


Don't Lose Hope

by maskofwords



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombiestuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-13
Updated: 2013-05-15
Packaged: 2017-12-11 18:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/801525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maskofwords/pseuds/maskofwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One moment there was gun fire and blood flying, and the next, you world crumbled beneath you. The end of the world was when you heard a scream that nearly made you go deaf. The scream was right next to your ear. It was loud and it was human, unlike everything that followed that noise. You froze for a moment before swirling around. Then you froze again in pure horror.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arm

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Zombiestuck](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/21545) by my-friend-the-frog. 



One moment there was gun fire and blood flying, and the next, you world crumbled beneath you. You recalled quite vividly his back. The wet and dirty fabric pressed against yours as he backed up. His whole body shook when the gun went off. You tried to move as little as possible but your weapon was a melee weapon so you had to move. You stuck close to him though. He did the same for you. He watched your back, occasionally turning to fire at a loose zombie. You made shore nothing got close to him. Or at least, you tried to.  
This wasn’t the first time the world had broken around you. The world had fallen apart already. Society broke down and scattered. Humanity was threatening to go extinct and be replaced by rotting, animated corpses. It didn’t really phase your though. You lived in isolation and you didn’t leave easily. Your hands liked to get dirty and you liked to keep yourself busy and moving. It could almost be said that you were born for this type of cut throat world. Right now, it was literally that.  
The virus, of course, was not the end of your world then. You kept going on. You managed to find everyone. Roxy was easy, Jane a tad harder, but Jake was a walk in the park to get ahold of. You knew that he wouldn’t drop dead either. He too lived in an isolated world where exiting his room was dangerous. Not to mention, you made shore he stayed active. This was the sort of thing he probably day dreamed about.  
The end of the world was when you heard a scream that nearly made you go deaf. The scream was right next to your ear. It was loud and it was human, unlike everything that followed that noise. You froze for a moment before swirling around. Then you froze again in pure horror.  
A zombie attached itself to Jake’s arm. Its teeth broke through the green fabric of his worn down jacket and pierced his skin. Blood covered his arm now. It soaked the sleeve and his pants. The monster kept tearing his Jake’s arm for flesh. It managed to pull some off and when it stepped back, you moved quickly to cut it down. You weren’t dropping your guard any more. Jake provided kelp the best he could with one arm.  
Eventually there was a break in the hoard and you two took it. You grabbed his shirt and pulled him after you. He quickly got the message and followed you. Roxy and Jane were still waiting for you.  
“Strider, wait,” he spoke.  
“They’re not far. We can’t stay here,” you told him.  
“Dirk, please, stop,” he begged. Of course, you couldn’t ignore him now. You were a sucker for cute bouys in glasses, especially when they beg.  
“I don’t want Jane and Roxy to sea me like this, Strider. I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t want them to be responsible for killing me.”  
“English, you’re not going to die. You’ll be fine. Now come on. We have to get out of here,” you said in a poor attempt to trick him. It was also a poor attempt in staying calm and collected like the cool kid you told yourself you were.  
“Dirk, I’m infected. My arm is bleeding. I know you’re not stupid mate and I… I don’t want to be one of them.”  
“You won’t be. Trust me.”  
“Listen, please. Just cull me here. It will be easier for Jane and Roxy if you just tell them I died in battle than watching their friend slowly lose his humanity. I’m begging you, Dirk.”  
You couldn’t cull him. You could not cull Jake English. You couldn’t cull him if your life depended on it, and hell, it pretty much did in this case. Jake was right. You weren’t stupid. You knew clearly that a bite like that would turn him into a zombie if they didn’t act fast. You had to act fast now. There was only one option left.  
“Give me your arm.”  
“What? Why do you want…”  
“Jake, give me that arm. I’m going to cut if off before it spreads to your brain,” you ordered him.  
He was hesitant. Who wouldn’t be? It was a fucking arm. It wasn’t like cutting your hair. It wouldn’t grow back. You couldn’t just simply forget about it or hide it. His whole life would have to change around not having an arm. He would be handicapped in the apocalypse, which was neither helpful nor safe. Any injury sustained, any weakness possessed would certainly bring you statistically closer to death. Jake’s injury should cull him but you refused to give up hope so easily.  
He finally gave you the injured arm. You told him to it would hurt and he should bite down on somefin. He turned his head away. You swallowed hard before watching the sharp metal blade slice through skin and muscle. Unfortunately for the two of you, the bone created problems. You swung faster the second time. This time, it did the trick. You watched the arm fall into your hand. You listened to his muffled screams and watched as his forest green eyes tear him. Those eyes that were once filled with so much energy and excitement were not full of pain and horror. It hurt you just as much as it hurt him. It hurt because you knew each day, each time you faced reality, the fire in Jake’s eyes went out a little more. Today, you were scared it would go out completely.  
“Come on, English. Let’s get you back,” you said quietly as you slipped under his good arm and let his tired body fall on you. “We’ll have to seal that wound up so it doesn’t get infected. It would be a shame to free you of one infection and then get a completely different one.”


	2. Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cutting his arm off hadn't done you any good apparently. Jake had a high fever now. He was in an out of consciousness and when he woke, he was usually moaning in pain because of the nub you left him with.

You only left his side to do guard duty. You knew Jane and Roxy weren’t completely responsible for that job, even if they offered. They both needed time with him too, so it was the least you could do. There weren’t many more zombies after the big fight. At least, none that showed up wanting to devour your flesh. You weren’t sure if it was a good feeling that you wanted them to be here so you could bash their brains in for relief. It made you sick but you couldn’t deny that a fight would feel good.  
Cutting his arm off hadn’t done you any good apparently. Jake had a high fever now. He was in an out of consciousness and when he woke, he was usually moaning in pain because of the nub you left him with. If only you had pain killers to at least numb the pain before he passed on. A body could only fight so long against such a lethal infection. Guard duty was the only thing that kept you from breaking down until a total, unironic, uncool mess. Statistically, Jake had only a day left, if that.   
“Dirk, I’ll take over for you now,” Jane said quietly as she stepped out of their little shack of a home.   
“How is he doing? Is he awake?” you asked, just as broken as the dark haired girl.   
“No, he’s unconscious again. Roxy is trying to get his fever down again,” she replied and sat down next to you. She pulled her legs in tight and looked off into the forest.  
You didn’t know what to say to her. You sat beside her and looked into the darkness. The two of you stayed that way for some time. You didn’t know how long you sat there, silent. It felt like eternity. Jane was the one to break the silence though.  
“He’s not going to make it through, is he?” she whispered. You barely could hear her.  
“He’ll make it. He’s been through worse,” you lied. You knew it was a lie just as much as she did but she took the lie. You didn’t even have the guts to tell yourself he was done for, let alone tell her. It surprised you that you retained your normal stoic form.   
“Thank you, Dirk. You can go in and see him now. I’ll take your post,” Jane replied with a smile. It hurt though to see it. It wasn’t a real smile. It was forced and a lie, just like your own words.  
You gave her a hand up before going inside. He walked past the other rooms and didn’t stop until you got to the bedroom. Like Jane said, Roxy was there at his side, trying her best to get his fever done. No one wanted to give up, let alone you. You pulled up a chair next to Roxy. She leaned against you as dramatically as possible in order to hide just how broken she was.   
“Well, if I hadn’t noticed you were next to me, I sure do now,” you replied to the girl.   
“We’re going to have to find a new hide out or you’ll get that a lot.”  
“What if like it? Can we stay?”   
She chuckled in response and sat back up. She went silent then when she looked at Jake. “I’ll think about it. I’m going to see how Jane is doing,” she said and placed a hand on your shoulder as she left.   
When she left, you moved closer to him. You continued a pattern of watching him and dabbing his forehead with a cold, wet cloth. You felt dead. Everything you did was just you going through the methods. There was no feeling to it or even desire. You just did it because it was the only thing you could do. You weren’t even sure how long you did this. The only thing that told time anymore for you was the sun. You came back to the reality when you heard a groan. Jake was moving again and his eyes were slowly opening.   
“Morning there sleepy head,” you cooed quietly as you dabbed his forehead again. “Try not to move too much. Your body needs the injury.”   
“I’m… I’m still alive?” he said hoarsely. His mouth was dry.  
“Yeah, you are. Even when the world ends, you just won’t stay dead.”  
“Well, you know me,” he commented but quickly winced at a new rush of pain. He rolled over and held his arm. You heard him curse under his breath.  
“Got a nice battle wound there too. It’ll be a nice story to tell your grand kids, huh?”   
“Yeah, and I’ll make some award out of scrap metal to show off to them. Say it was from the president,” he joked. It was nice to hear his voice, even if it was strained.   
“You should probably work on that since I’m not even sure if the president is alive anymore.”  
“Oh yeah, but they won’t know that. Hey, Dirk,” he said, pausing for your response.  
“Yeah? What is it jungle boy?”   
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t think this was how I would go. It’s not your fault. I let my guard down. I just wanted you to know that. You’ve been really great. The best actually.”   
“Jake, don’t…”  
“I have to say it, Dirk. I’m just too dumb to say everything before now and if I don’t say it now, I don’t know when I will. I know I haven’t been that understanding and slow a lot of times but… but… well, you guys are my life. I just wish I was smart enough to make it up to you, mate.” He paused for a moment when he felt the pain again. You could see it in his face just how much it hurt him. “But when it’s all over, I don’t want you to just sit around and mourn or go and get yourself killed. I love you.”  
Thank god for your shades. Those three words hurt like hell. Now he told you. You had been leaving hints since the first conversation. You flirted with him quite a lot and now he told you he felt the same. You could feel the tears start piling up, threatening to over flow and break your act.   
“Took you long enough to admit it, English. I’ve been waiting,” you said but you heard your voice cracked. Your act was breaking down. You weren’t sure how much longer you could keep this up.  
“Yeah, I know. I just thought now you wouldn’t make fun of me and if I got embarrassed, you would think it was just my fever. Hey, Dirk, there was something else I wanted to ask.”  
“Well, shot, English. Go ahead. You know I’m all ears.”  
“What is zombie’s favorite type of candies?”  
You smiled and rolled your eyes before asking. “What is it?”  
“Life saviors,” he replied. You chuckled at his joke. Even when he was sick, his jokes were stupid. Suddenly you were laughing even louder. You couldn’t believe such a lame joke was making you laugh so much. When was the last time you had laughed anyway?   
“That was a really dumb joke, English,” you said at last. When you looked down, his eyes were closed and his chest wasn’t moving. You checked for a pulse but you didn’t find any. You shouted for the other two as you tried to get him back. You weren’t ready. You didn’t say your goodbyes. You didn’t get the chance to tell him how much he meant to you. There was so much you wanted to do that he couldn’t just die now.   
“Jake! Jake! Come on, dude, don’t die! Please!”


End file.
